Goverment Issue Blackmail
by Amberlia
Summary: Kidnapped and smuggled back into Britain, it appears that Blunt has managed to weasel his way back into MI6. Good news for him, but bad news for a certain Alex Rider...When Blunt tries to blackmail Alex into working for MI6 again, Alex resists. Will he be forced back into the world of espionage, or will he have gotten older, smarter, and if possible, even more sarcastic? ON HIATUS.
1. Phone Call

**A/N: What happened when Blunt tries to blackmail Alex into another mission? Hasn't he learned a lesson?**

 **Apparently not, so keep calm and read on.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider, but if I did, I would ask him how he manages to act all amazing and cute and still manage to save the world at the same time.**

Alex Rider deepest desire was to experience life as a normal teenager. It wasn't too hard to ask for, considering he was a teenager.

Sadly, certain British military intelligence agencies did not seem to get Alex's wishes. Also sadly, those certain British military agencies had his number on speed dial, because whenever some world crisis that may or may not end the world was happening, Alex was called in to save the day.

He may be the envy of other teenage boys dreams, but he didn't care. All he wanted to do was be like a normal teenage boy, to eat icecream, to think about girls, and to be up at midnight finishing his homework because he decided that playing football was more important than calculus.

Life in America wasn't much better than Britain. The same old things happened. Bullies. Girls. The only thing that changed was that since he had no friends, besides Sabina, he didn't neglect his homework till the last minute to play football.

In Britain, he was in bed by midnight, sometimes later if he was making up homework because he had been on a mission. In America, he went to bed by 8:30.

Mr. and Mrs. Pleasure had imposed a curfew for him and Sabina. 10:00. Sabina was always 2 to 4 hours past the curfew, and Alex was always 2 to 3 hours early.

To sum it up, life in America was boring. Alex was bored, the homework was easy, so no struggle there, and he missed Britain. Or to say, certain parts of Britain. He didn't miss MI6. But life in America was normal, and Alex liked normal.

It was normal, until one day, Alex had come home from school and the phone had rang. _His_ phone.

Alex frowned at it, picking it up and reading the caller ID.

Royal and General bank. Alex groaned, rubbing his forehead. Absolutely not. No way was he picking up the damn phone.

Alex got himself a glass of orange juice. The phone kept ringing. Alex pulled out his laptop, checking Chelsea's stats and emailing Tom. He smiled, amused at something Tom and said in his last email, sipping orange juice and pointedly ignoring his ringing phone.

The phone finally stopped ringing. Alex picked it up, going to settings and switched his phone to silent. There. Now if they called again, he wouldn't have to actually be expected to answer their call. He stuffed the phone in his pocket, turned of his laptop, and got out his homework.

By six o'clock his homework was done. Mr. Pleasure came . Pleasure came home at seven and started heating up leftovers, which was some kind of vegetable dish that Alex never recalled eating.

He choked down the leftovers, brushed his teeth and was about to say goodnight and climb into bed when the house phone rang.

Mrs. Pleasure looked up, frowning. " Who is it?"

" I'll get it!" Alex jumped for the phone. Mrs. Pleasure returned to her magazine, and Alex quickly pressed the silence button, picking up the phone and putting it down again to mimic that he had actually taken the call.

Mr. Pleasure entered the room wearing a loose tennis shirt and shorts. " Who was that?" He asked.

Alex shrugged innocently. " Some telemarketer," he replied. " Apparently, they had a new brand of toaster that plays music and charges your phone."

Mr. Pleasure snorted, taking a seat on the couch. " And next year, they'll have toasters that can sing and dance. Ha!"

Alex said nothing. It seemed that toasters were a very touchy subject for Mr. Pleasure. Instead, he went upstairs to bed, as Mr. Pleasure continued to rant downstairs to no audience.

 **A/N: And that's the first chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	2. Come For Me

He woke up the next morning. Blinking his eyes sleepily, he glanced at his clock. 5:34. He still had an hour left of sleep.

Annoyed, Alex turned over. Great. He had enough trouble going to sleep. But what had woken him up?

The answer came to him moments later. His phone, on the bed stand next to his bed, lit up and started buzzing. Hadn't he put it on silence the day before? Frowning, Alex picked up his phone and glanced at the caller ID.

Royal and General Bank.

Alex sighed, rolling his eyes. They didn't actually expect for him to pick up the phone, did they? As if he was going to get caught in their web of lies again. Alex set the phone down again.

Since he was already awake, he decided he might as well get ready for school. Rolling out of bed, Alex stumbled to the bathroom as best as he could in the dark and flicked on the lights.

15 minutes later he walked out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around him. Locking his bedroom door, he pulled on a clean shirt and shorts, which was weird, considering that it was December and yet the temperature never dropped below 65 degrees.

He toweled his hair dry and was just finishing when there was a knock on his bedroom. He opened the door to find Mr. Pleasure wearing a suit and tie, decked up for work, with a surprised look on his face.

" Alex!" he exclaimed. " I've never seen you up so early."

Alex cracked a smile. " Just...wanted to go to school early," he said.

That was a complete lie, he knew, but he didn't want to tell him yet about MI6. He didn't know why, and he really should. After all, Mr. Pleasure might be able to interfere. But the Pleasures had been so good to him and he didn't want to cause more trouble…

Alex would be able to handle it, he decided.

" Do you want me to drive you to school?" Mr. Pleasure's voice interrupted his train of thought. Alex nodded quickly.

" I'll be down in five minutes. Just let me get my bag."

" Okay." Mr. Pleasure walked down the stairs. Alex waited until his footsteps had faded away completely before throwing in his school stuff, with a little surprise. His laptop. Although the Pleasures had banned both he and Sabina from taking their electronics to school besides their cellphones, Alex had to break the rule this one time because he needed his laptop.

Downstairs, Alex grabbed a bagel from the kitchen and chugged down half a glass of orange juice before joining Mr. Pleasure in his car.

There was silence for five minutes before Mr. Pleasure broke it by asking Alex if he had known that Sabina was going to sneak out with Blake to a party.

Alex was surprised. " No, I didn't know that." He frowned. " That doesn't sound like Sabina."

Mr. Pleasure chuckled dryly. " I know. However, it appears that Sabina has a bit of a rebellious streak, according to the cop who bought her home."

" Police?" Alex was horrified.

" Yes, police. A nice officer by the name of Randolph bought her home, at 2 in the morning. Liz was worried sick." Mr. Pleasure rolled his eyes. " Teenagers. Anyways, she's not allowed to go anywhere for the next two weeks and Blake's not allowed to come over until her ban is lifted."

Alex nodded, silent. They pulled up to the school moments later, and Alex thanked him for the ride, than got out.

The doors to the school were already unlocked, and Alex slipped inside to his first period. Not only was there excellent wi fi there, Alex didn't have to rush to his next class.

Alex logged into his computer, keying in his password and opened up a new tab. He typed in 'how to block an annoying number' and than hit search.

Many results came up. Alex clicked on the wikihow results, and by the time his classmates started trickling into the classroom, Alex had successfully managed to block MI6's number.

 **A/N: Okay, this chapter was a bit boring, but the next chapter will be much better, I promise. Review on what you liked and what you want me to improve. :)**


	3. And The Whole Shenanigans Start Again

The day passed by uneventfully. As usual, school seemed to bore Alex. While they were talking about wars in the Mexican Gulf, Alex was thinking of the real war he was forced in. A child soldier. A lot of boys wanted to be soldiers. Not Alex, no. War was an ugly thing. Of course, there were bastards like Blunt who made it all fun and games, to recruit and trap people like him.

Sometimes Alex wished he wasn't so...well, useable. He liked to think that if had maybe, maybe not been so willing to come along quietly that Blunt would eventually give up his efforts and look for someone else, someone who would come along quietly like a good boy or girl and do as their told with no complaint. Maybe he should-

" Alex? Do you know the answer?" His least favorite teacher, Mrs. Doddley, was calling his name. It was a shame his least favorite teacher happened to teach his best and favorite subject-maths. Doubled.

Of course Alex knew the answer. " X equals 34. Y is X times two, or 68."

Mrs. Doddley seemed surprised he knew the answer. " Try to pay more attention in class, Alex," she said and turned to pick on her next unfortunate victim. Alex rolled his eyes behind her back, and went back to moping about his life in peace.

Maths ended and that was the end of the day. The bell rang, dismissing the students, and Alex hurriedly shoved his books into his bag (they carried their bags with them everywhere) and pushed his chair in, walking with the other students for the door.

Outside, he set down his stuff in the middle courtyard and waited for Sabina. The school had excellent wifi, good connection, great speed, a perk to going there.

Sabina walked out 30 minutes later, with her boyfriend, Blake. Alex despised him almost immediately, and maybe he was jealous, but that didn't cut it. He had a thousand and one reasons Sabina shouldn't be going out with him, and yet, he never got the courage to point them out to Sabina.

Sabina saw him, and strolled over to him, Blake on tow.

" Hey Alex."

" Hey Sabs." He decided not to say anything about her being grounded and not being able to meet with Blake for a month. No, that would just make him seem like a snitch. He put away his laptop, pointedly ignoring Blake except for a nod in acknowledgement when Blake said hello to him.

" So...you want to go home?" He asked her.

Sabina smiled apologetically. " Actually, me and Blake were planning on going to the ice cream parlor for a bit, so would you mind going home by yourself?"

Yes. " Not at all. See you," he said, nodding at both Blake and Sabina.

On the walk home, Alex debated whether or not to rat Sabina out. He could either be enemies with Sabina, the girl who had kissed him in the South of France, or he could risk angering Mr. Pleasure by denying everything. Alex pushed the door open to the house absentmindedly, honestly thinking about the situation. He was so preoccupied, he didn't notice the man hiding behind the door until a gloved hand closed around his mouth and he could feel the muzzle of a gun pressed on the back of his neck.

Alex froze. He was so used to this sort of situation that he could immediately tell how a gun felt, anywhere on his body. His leg, perhaps, or his head. And maybe his neck, like today.  
" What do you want?" Alex tried to keep his voice steady, contemplating a plan of action. " I don't have any money. My parents keep it at the bank…"

The lies came to his mouth easily. Alex prayed that the person was just a thief, just a robber, and that he had walked into the situation in the wrong place at the wrong time.

" This isn't your parents house." A soft voice replied. Alex's heart skipped a beat. " Your parents died when you were 3 months old. You are living with Mr, and Mrs. Pleasure, and their daughter, Sabina."

He swallowed. " You're wrong. My parents live in this house and I don't know anyone named Sabina-"

He stopped as the gun was pressed deeper into his neck. Alex could taste a raw taste in his mouth, the taste of fear, he decided. The hand around his mouth tightened as the person moved Alex backwards, towards the door.

Briefly, he considered making a run for it. He could probably twist away, out of the person's hand, and if he made it to his bedroom, he could devise a further plan-

"And don't even think of running away. This gun is loaded. Make a move and I will not hesitate to blast your brains out."

Well, than. Alex swallowed.

" Got it?"

" Yes." Alex's voice came out as a mere whisper. The person pulled his backpack of his shoulders, dumping it on the floor.

" Move." Alex obeyed. He didn't have a choice anyways.

The person pushed him out the door, carefully keeping a hold on him. There was a car waiting at the curb. Alex was pushed in, the door locked by the driver. There were two men waiting inside. He was forced to sit between them, and he could clearly make out the outlines of a gun in their pockets. The person who had ambushed him sat in the front, pulling close a glass divider that separate the passengers from the driver. Smart.

The windows were tinted, so not only could anyone not look in, but Alex couldn't really look out. The men sitting next to him stared straight ahead for the entire ride, but Alex had a feeling that if he had so much as sneezed, the men would probably be ready to pull out their guns and shoot him.

They came to a toll. Alex was hopeful, for a moment. Perhaps he could somehow signal the toll booth people that he had been kidnapped.

As if somehow sensing what Alex was thinking, the two men in the back gave him a mean look that said " Try anything funny, we will shoot your brains and any other unfortunate witnesses brains out as well."

So Alex stared straight ahead and tried to pretend all was well. That he wasn't being kidnapped by gun point, and oh, of course he was a normal teenage kid. Why wouldn't he be? It wasn't like he was a teenage spy, blackmailed to do MI6, CIA, and ASIS's dirty work.

They passed the toll booth. The excuse that was given was that Alex was an important senator's son, who was supposed to meet him in California after a series of long debates. A fake passport had been arranged for, has well has fake IDs for the men, and the driver. The man who had ambushed him had taken of his gloves and put in a ear piece. He was the chief bodyguard, apparently. The irony of it didn't escape Alex's attention.

The car slowed down to a stop, it seemed, hours later. The door was opened; Alex was manhandled outside. By this point, it was twilight, and Alex wondered what Mr. and Mrs. Pleasure were thinking of his absence. Had they called the police? MI6? Were people looking for him? He didn't know. Anything could happen. Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Pleasure thought he was just late, that he was just hanging out with some friends. Or maybe they weren't home yet. They hadn't noticed his absence, and by the time they did, he would be long gone. Maybe out of the country, which brought him back to where he was at the moment.

An airfield. Green golf grass, bright lights. A warehouse. Satellite dishes. There was a cold breeze blowing through. He regretted not bringing a jacket. It would be even worse if they flew in a topless airplane.

" Follow me." Like Alex had a choice. He followed the man to an airplane at the far end of the airfield. Great. A topless plane.

" Get in."

Alex hesitated. A sharp nudge on his back and he was sitting in the plane, a pair of goggles on his face. A jacket had been given to him; guess they didn't want him to freeze. How nice.

The man who had ambushed him sat in the front. Making sure Alex was tucked in, he started the plane, turning it around and than pulled the plane forward.

He pulled a joystick has Alex watched and than the plane lurched upwards. They were in motion. A few minutes later, the plane managed to level out, high in the sky. It was bit unnerving to be this high in the sky with nothing but a tiny aluminum plane to support you. It didn't help that the plane shook with every bit of turbulence. Alex found himself clenching his seat tightly.

 **A/N: So how'd you like this chapter? Review for anything you want me to add into the story. I'm always open for suggestions! :)**


	4. Alex Is 'Entertained'

**A/N: Okay everyone! Thanks for the support. So I'm sorry I didn't PM you back, but shout outs to marale-chan, book addict 16, and Emily1213, for either following or favoriting Government Issue Blackmail. My goal is to get at least 20 follows, which we shall acheive with six more follows. So people, keep supporting this story!**

 **Also, a shout out to these following people who were with me during the early-not-so great stages of the story, as we all remember a little too well:**

 **Becky078**

 **12-18-2017**

 **MLM24**

 **09-26-2017**

 **Qwertywerido**

 **10-12-2017**

 **RockyMountainNerd**

 **09-20-2017**

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 **09-30-2017**

 **SwiftShadow**

 **09-21-2017**

 **Zyzyax**

 **10-24-2017**

 **09-25-2017**

 **epicfangirl46**

 **09-20-2017**

 **justagreekgeek02**

 **10-28-2017**

 **marale-chan**

 **02-27-2018**

 **namisnakama**

 **10-18-2017**

 **shadosakushi**

 **12-27-2017**

 **yummypie193**

 **11-22-2017**

They landed, it seemed, a long time later. Alex must have fallen asleep, because his neck had a crick in it and his head was twisted at a weird angle. His head hurt, a lot. The sensation one got from having cold air whipped past their chest and face. Yeah, that's exactly what Alex was feeling.

" Get out."

And he did. The large jacket draped from his body hung awkwardly, not offering much protection from the cold wind. Alex tried pulling the hood up, but there was no hood; only a large cavity that partially covered the top off his head. He eventually gave up, eyeing his captor warily.

" Do you know where we are?"

No. Alex shook his head.

The man laughed. " We're in Britain, boy. Try to keep up."

Alex felt a flare off annoyance in him. How the hell was he supposed to know they were in Britain? He was gone for six months! But he still felt guilty. Britain was his home and yet he still couldn't know they were there. Alex shivered, choosing to concentrate on maintaining his body heat instead off arguing with the man.

" In Wales."

Something in Alex stood on edge. Wales. What had he done the last time he was in Wales? Oh right, been training for ten days with grown men 100 pounds more than him and at least 6 feet tall, all training to be in the SAS.

" You remember Wales, don't you, Alex?"

The man knew. The man knew. He suddenly drew a conclusion.

" You're with them," he said, his voice a mere whisper.

The man raised his eyebrows, cocking his head. " I'm sorry, but your going to have to speak much louder than that if you expect to be heard, boy."

So Alex screamed it at him. And when he was done, the man was silent, probably thinking about the hormonal, overreacting teen in front off him. And Alex wished he was anywhere but here, so completely alone and vulnerable to MI6. They could kill him, or make him disappear. To an institution, somewhere. How easy would it be to lie and say that Alex had been sent to a boarding school somewhere, or perhaps been tragically killed in a car accident.

The hairs on the back off his neck rose up. Ridiculously easy. No one would question them, and he would finally be completely MI6's, without intervention. How long would he survive? MI6 had already shown itself to be unreliable. Point Blanc. They hadn't arrived until he was already half dead and lying in snow somewhere. His health. His body was strong, youth was on his side, but there was only so much abuse Alex's body could take before he would succumb to all the injuries and scars that littered his body. Images off broken bones and twisted muscles came forth to Alex's mind.

The man raised an eyebrow at Alex. " Have anything more to say, boy?"

Anger rose in Alex's throat, but he swallowed it down. He shook his head, trying to get rid off the sudden headache he had.

" Than let's go. There's a car waiting."

Could he run? Alex glanced out off the corner off his eyes. No. The place was surrounded by high fences. Probably electrocuted, and too high for him to clear without getting shot. He looked for another way out, but the place was locked down tight. There wasn't even a visible entrance to the fence; the only way to get in our out was through the air. The idea off piloting a plane didn't sit well with Alex either, so his only choice was to get in the car and devise an escape from their.

The man led him to a inconspicuous old red Mercedes Benz, where a door ws pulled open and he was shoved in. Inside, there were two men, both dressed casually in tight T-shirts that framed their thick arms and muscular torso. Alex betted whether or not one off them could wring his neck with one hand. Probably yes.

The man got in the front. Again, there was a partition off glass between them. Bullet proof. Teen proof too, Alex noted.

They drove for what seemed like an hour. The car door was opened again, and Alex was shoved outside.

" Hands behind you back." A gruff voice commanded. When his hands were behind his back, they were cuffed with plastic zip ties, tight enough so he could not move his hands an inch but loose enough so they weren't uncomfortable. A blindfold was slipped over his eyes, a gag in his mouth. Blind, hands behind his back, and half choking, Alex was pushed forward to an unknown mystery destination.

Someone pulled him back, eventually. Alex strained his ears and heard the soft click off a door opening. He was shoved inside, and a blast off warm air hit him. So he was in some sort off building than.

The blindfold was pulled off him, and at the same time, he heard the door shut behind him, a click as the lock was pulled shut. He was still gagged, however, and that told him ominous notions. His captors forced him into a chair and his hands were cuffed behind his back to the back off the chair, the gag pulled out.

Alex finally managed to get a good look around building was shabby, but clean. The floors had a speckled pattern on it, and due to the color off the background off the tiles, appeared dirty even if it looked recently cleaned. There were three ceiling fans spinning above their heads, circulating damp warm air through the room. The heat itself was coming from a series off radiators off to the side off the room, and the whole room smelled like rust and heat as the oversized metal boxes tried to give out warm air. They succeeded, spectacularly. No more than a minute had passed and Alex could feel sweat develop on the back off his neck, the fans providing no relief.

" Let's get down to the (censored), boy." The man said, appearing in front off Alex. Grabbing Alex's chin firmly, he forced Alex's head to face him.

" Look here, boy. You can come quietly or we can make you come with us."

Alex superessed the urge roll his eyes. Come quietly? He was already coming quietly, as if he had a choice, considering he didn't want to be shot. The threat was completely unnecessary. What were-

"It would be ridiculously easy to stuff you in a burlap bag and throw you in the boot. Think about it-no air, no food, no water. Nothing."

They hadn't given him food or water before. Alex cocked his head, considering. Being stuffed in a burlap sack did sound bad, and suffocation sounded even worse. Dying in the boot off a car sounded like a stupid way to die. If he got shot, he would have understood, but this...plain ridiculous.

If he were going to die, he should at least die surrounded by his friends and what little family he had left, not stuffed in the boot off a car with men who wanted to kill him.

" Okay. I'll come quietly." Alex finally said. Today was not his day to die. The man looked surprised, completely stilling but than settling for a broad grin.

" See? I knew you would cooperate." He laughed, slapping Alex on the back with the force off being run over by a truck. " Smart boy!"

He forced a smile on his face. Only a few more hours to survive. Just a few more hours, he told himself. He had already made up his mind-he was going to play them along a string, but no way was he going to end up working for them.

 **A/N: Special shout out to namisnakama and Emma 2448 for their especially positive reviews!**

 **Namisnakama: Omg this is so good! Alex is hilarious I loved the "no, I'm his twin answer! Also can't wait to see how Alex will deal with their shit again.**

 **Emma 2448: This is really good! If you wanted you could make this into a whole 'nother book in the series!**

 **And now for the shout outs to people who gave positive reviews before but I never gave a shout out to. Sorry. ;)**

 **Qwertyweirdo: This seems interesting. Hopefully we will see more.**

 **Guest: Awesome**

 **Guest: SO GOOD**

 **Epicfangirl46: I LOVE THIS SO MUCH**

 **Guest: Oh My God I love this already.**

 **Thanks for all the continued support. Until next time!**

 **-Amber**


	5. No Is No

**A/N: Ooh, we're picking up steam guys.**

 **New followers: Limabean888, Faren12321, baseball18,rebeccat042.**

 **Reviews: Guest-I'm really really enjoying this, super excited for the next chapter.**

Alex must have fallen asleep somewhere along the ride, because when he woke up the black outside his window was fading into the darkest, most subtle shade off blue.

He stretched. They were in the car, travelling again and Alex now noticed that the overall layout was the same. Bullet proof glass pane seperating the driver and passenger. Bottles off water in the seat net compartments attached to the backs off the seat in front off him. He grabbed a water, drinking some to get rid off the taste that something had died inside his mouth, only giving a pause off a thought that the water might be poisoned.

But it tasted fine. He stopped briefly, before finishing off the rest off the bottle and putting it back in the seat net cover. His neck had a crink. It took a good bit off stretching to get rid off it, and this also involved invading the guard's personal space. He managed to hide the smile when a look off irritation passed among both off their faces as the teenage boy half their size was sticking his arms in their personal space.

But no. They couldn't pummel him. Injure him, yes, kill him, no. Alex gloated a bit over his special status before becoming serious once more.

A few more hours passed this way. The sky slowly turned lighter as they gradually approached their destination. Alex was bored and he didn't bother hiding it. Twice, he invaded the two men sitting on either side off him, space. He had to be careful not to push it; they had guns and he didn't. Although he knew they probably wouldn't shoot him, the threat that he could be stuffed into the boot still hung in the air. And Alex really didn't like the idea off being stuffed in such a small space with a limited supply off air, in the dark all by himself...he shuddered. He was pretty sure that was illegal anyways. Not that that was going to stop them.

London traffic has a unique sound to it. Alex picked it up, even if he had been gone for six months. He cocked his head to the side. His own former home would be a twenty minutes from King's Road. The Royal and General was on Liverpool street. He calculated the distance in his head. At least a fifteen minute tube ride.

He was feeling strangely nostalgic. To be back in Britain, he never thought he would feel this way. When he had left, it seemed a lifetime ago, he had been too tired, too washed out and still in grieving to register he was leaving. Now, back in London, he could almost forget about everything that had...happened, over the last year. Alex breathed all the sights in. There was the bus stop, the market where Ja-he used to go, and the Cadbury shop. Jack used to like Cadbury chocolate. He felt sorrow seep in. Pushing away the sad thoughts and all the 'befores', Alex turned so he wouldn't have to look anymore.

" Feeling sentimental?"

" Not really," Alex muttered.

" You should. You might not be here any longer."

That gave him clues. Blunt wanted to send him on a mission. He honestly couldn't say he was surprised. Why else would Blunt send for him? Certainly not for coffee and cookies.

They drove past the park where Alex used to play football with after school with another group off boys, and past the ice cream shop. He realized that he had never actually driven on this route towards The Royal and General. He had always taken the tube. He wasn't even sure if they were going in the right direction. For all he knew, they were lying and they were going to take him somewhere and kill him. Strangely, he didn't panic. More resigned to it, thinking.

They reached their destination. Alex expected them to get out with him, but instead the man in the front seat twisted around to him.

" Our cover is that I'm your father and you're my son. We have a problem with my account and you are accompanying me."

Alex nodded. He checked his options, quickly. He could run, but the men on either side off him were probably carrying guns, or at the very least, sedatives. And his legs had cramped. He doubted he would be able to run anywhere for very long and add to that the unfamiliarity off the neighbourhood, he didn't much like his chances.

" Okay," Alex said. The man on his left got out and opened the car door. The man on his right gave him a little shove, more aggressive than necessary and which was probably pay back for his annoying behavior earlier. Alex got out, standing to the side, stretching his legs and arms, relishing the fresh, polluted London air. The door closed as the man got in again and the driver pulled away.

" Come on, Dominick." The man smiled at him convincingly, as if he were Alex's father and no, he wasn't going to kill him if he threw a tantrum. He held out his hand, but Alex ignored it, turning to the bank.

The man's eyes narrowed, but if he was angry, he didn't show it and instead withdrew his hand and proceeded to walk into the bank.

It was exactly as Alex had remembered it. The boring, shiny white floor. A potted plant in the corner off the reception area, right next to the lift. Even the same receptionist was seated behind the plain white desk at the front off the room.

The man walked up her, and exchanged a few words. She kept smiling through it all, but Alex saw her eyes flicker down to him briefly. Even though he was nearly as tall as the man, she looked at him as he was-a child, stupid and incompetent. Her gaze made him feel downgraded, like he shouldn't be here and leave all the killing to the adults. He wondered if she knew, that he had killed before however so unintentionally, and that she probably had seen more violence and bloodshed than she had and probably never will. Or perhaps she was angry. That this boy, possibly half or even three times younger than her, was getting more action than she was. He knew about the wanna be agents-agents who wanted in on the excitement but never got sent out into the field. Instead, they were stuck in boring desk reception jobs or writing reports for the field agents.

He felt sorry for her. But not sorry enough to say something to her.

The man finished talking, and the woman nodded, picking up the phone and dialing the numbers in. Pressumbly to Blunt's office. Alex considered making a break for it. Freedom was so close... If he could get off King's Road, he might be able to make it to the tube and escape into London. Alex knew all the details off the bank account his uncle had set up for him; even though he wouldn't be able to access the full thing till he was eighteen, he still had about five thousand dollars in it. He could get a plane ticket and somehow manage to escape-

" Don't even think about it," the man warned. The woman gave them both a curious look. The man forced a smile, rolling his eyes and making up an excuse that sounded pathetic to Alex but seemed to placate the woman.

" Let's go," he gestured at Alex to follow him, and silently, feeling like a beaten down dog, he followed the man to the elevator. It looked normal enough, and Alex couldn't remember who had told him it but the elevator actually had concealed cameras that scanned him for weapons and detected his body temperature. It could also see his heart beating. Come to think off it, it was probably Crawley. Seemed to be his style; he liked intimidating people and usually did a fine job with it.

They stepped inside the elevator. He crossed his arms, trying to act calm. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction off letting them know he was afraid or nervous. The elevator finally opened up half a minute later and they got out. Alex was forced to get out first so he wouldn't try any 'funny' business.

They walked past several office blocks and up another flight off stairs. When they finally arrived at Blunt's office, the man knocked as stood patiently outside.

" Come inside," and Alex was pushed inside the office.

The office was the same as before. The same wooden desk, the two same grey visitor chairs made out off itchy wool and poorly stitched fabric. Blunt himself sat in comfortable swiveling chair with what looked like it was crafted out off leather.

And Blunt...himself hadn't changed much. Same grey hair slicked back neatly in a shiny heap, the hair clinging to the scalp and showing hints off the flesh underneath. A grey suit, but that was practically Blunt's entire wardrobe. His pale grey eyes rested on Alex, not moving but still like glass. Alex felt a sudden discomfort.

" You are dismissed." Blunt turned to the man. He nodded, and left, the door closing softly behind him.

Alex swallowed. He felt the first palpitations off fear, the increased heart rate and cold sweat down his back despite the cold, almost freezing AC.

Blunt gestured at the chairs.

" Take a seat."

" I'd prefer to stand."

Blunt shrugged, easily, giving him another look over.

" Is that really you, Alex Rider? You've changed quite a bit."

" No, I'm his long lost secret twin. What do you think? Off course it's me."

" No need to get snippy," Blunt said, quiet calmly. " We had to make sure that it was you, especially after the Julius Grief incident."

" Which was all your fault, by the way."

Blunt sighed. " I see your still quite angry with us. But our intelligence failed us and we had several bits off misinformation."

Alex brushed it of. Blunt was a master of manipulation. He had manipulated him many times before, so what was to say he wouldn't do that now? And wasn't it MI6's job to sort through relevant and irrelevant information? His anger increased. They expected him to understand when he didn't. He was still a fifteen year old boy. He had lost his parents first, followed by Ian and than Jack. What next? And what would be the last thing? His own sanity or his life? In this field, he knew, whatever came first.

" It doesn't matter." Alex finally said, quite coldly. " I don't want to talk about that. Why am I here?"

" I think you know why."

He did know why. Another mission. The grave possibility off it had occurred to him on the car ride there. He had hoped not. He had hoped something else had come up. Jack was alive. All off SCORPIA had been subdued. The Chinese Triads were off his tail. Something cheerful like that.

" We have another mission for you."

" Forget it," Alex instantly replied, his voice poisonous. " I'm not doing it."

" You haven't even considered-"

" Where's Ms. Jones, by the way?" Alex had suddenly noticed the absence off Blunt's head deputy.

" She had something to do. Back to the matter at hand. You haven't considered our offer yet-"

" I don't want to. I know I'm not doing it anyways."

" But why?"

Alex wanted to explode. What a stupid question that Blunt was asking. Why didn't he want to do it? Well, let's see, maybe he wanted to experience life like a normal teenager, why don't we start with that, or perhaps he was sick off having attempts made at his life.

" I just don't want to. I want to just live life."

" Just living life would be boring, wouldn't it, Alex?"

Well, that explains why your life is so boring, than, does it, Alex thought rudely, than shoved the thought out off the way. He had made his decision. Not this time, no. He couldn't do it. It had only been so recently until his last mission and the new cuts and bruises he had acquired hadn't even healed properly yet.

Perhaps Blunt would manage to recruit him for another mission, sometime in the future, but he couldn't do it now.

" I said no." Alex finally said firmly.

Blunt raised an eyebrow.

" I-can't do this anymore. I've made too many enemies and too many people know me. I want to try and start a normal life."

" The key word here being try." Blunt leaned forward. " Alex, do you know how many agents say the same thing. Regretting the choice they made working for us-"

" For me, it wasn't a choice." Alex reminded him, but he just ignored him and went on.

" They regret getting involved and somehow, I find myself in my office with them begging me to let them go. To start a normal life. Naturally, I said yes-"

" I bet," Alex muttered under his breath.

"-but the problem is that most off them are so damaged that they find it impossible to restart a new life. I'm sure you met our receptionist Kendra? Well, did you know she was a field agent for us?"

" Her?" Alex couldn't control the surprised expression on his face.

Blunt nodded. " A mission in France affected her so much she resigned from her position and tried working in a local bakery. The job lasted exactly three days; she was fired after a physical dispute with a customer. Thankfully, we accepted her again and it's been four years since she has been working as a receptionist for us."

Alex wondered how that helped Blunt prove his care point. If she was really so damaged, than was he actually going to join her path?

He didn't think so.

" I said no."

Blunt dismissed him.

 **A/N: Before you get all up on my throat for the late updates and everything, let me just start out by saying that the last few months have been rough for me. Lots off recent developments and everything, so my updates have been slow with the upcomings. For those off you who are reading Alex Is In The Hospital it is going on major HIATUS until further notice. I don't know when I will be able to continue it again but right now it is not my main priority. I might do a series off one shots and continue with this story and one other one that I am doing, but other than that, Alex Is In The Hospital has been shut down until further notice.**

 **Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. As usual, please keep reading and reviewing.**


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